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September 04, 2009

To Be Fair, The Fair So Far Is Fairly Amusing

I have complete faith that, no more than eight minutes into the next episode of General Hospital, the show will unleash a metric ton of fuckery that will make the half-hearted compliments that follow completely moot, but today's episode was vaguely decent, no?

Yes, despite featuring Spinelli dressed like a clown

(I'm not quite self-absorbed enough to think that the writers are trying to goad me, personally, into a nervous breakdown, but on the off chance that is the case, they're certainly going about it the right way! A nemesis AND my greatest fear, combined into one grease-painted, babbling buffoon)

and some of the worst soap acting this side of Passions

(I...my word, has being out of the soap acting game for a while complete eroded Martha Byrne's skills? Or was she this bad on As the World Turns? I complained so often about how all she did was stare blankly or dart her eyes nervously, but that is far preferable to the stilted line readings and ridiculous faces)

and the inclusion of violence in a story that doesn't call for it

(This is not surprising, but it is annoying all the same)

and a Quartermaine in peril

(Again, not surprising. Also, I just saw an episode of The Golden Girlsfeaturing John Ingle as a colleague of Miles. He was as adorable as you'd expect in his professor garb!)

The show stumbled, completely accidentally, upon the perfect niche for Sonny. Not leading man, not all powerful mobster; no, the best way to make Sonny enjoyable is to have him interact with kids, because he was downright enjoyable today. I don't think my fingers would actually let me type the word "adorable" as a descriptor for Sonny, but he almost kind of was, today!

Since he will probably never face jail time or any other repercussions for his heinous misdeeds, perhaps the next best way to rehabilitating his character is to give him Mac-level screentime.

The dunking booth was so silly and hilarious. I loved seeing something that was meant to be pure fun on this show, which is usually so morose and angry. And every single cast member seemed completely gleeful to be a part of it, which was lovely to see.

Plus, it led to Patrick in a towel!

His smack-talking (to quote Kelly Kapoor: "I don't talk trash; I talk smack. They're totally different. Trash talk is all hypothetical like 'Your Mama's so fat she could eat the internet' but smack talk is happening like right now, like 'you're ugly and I know it for a fact cause I got the evidence right there". Can The Office come back, like, now?) was amusing.

Patrick: Come on. You throw like a girl. What was that?

Robin: I am a girl. You happen to like me that way.

Patrick:Well, I don't like the way you're throwin', so let's see what you got.

Lulu: Prepare to take a swim.

Patrick: I'm so prepared.

And the fact that he, and a bevy of other Port Charles men (but not Lucky? Greg Vaughan is pretty much made for being part of a dunking booth scene!), were taken down by Molly was hilarious.

She is fast becoming one of my favorite Port Charles children with her sass and her math skills.

Molly: Well, actually there's a simple mathematical formula. You see, "r" times distance times the circumference of the ball equals the force necessary--Morgan: That's math, not baseball.Molly: It'll work. I know it.

Love her.

I feel like Jason and Sam have a lot of issues to work through before I can take them seriously as a couple. You know, the "you are responsible for my son's kidnapping" and "you threatened to kill me" kind of issues. But I have to admit that there has been something very sweet and appealing about them lately. It's so rare to see Jason flirting and fun. And Kelly Monaco works so well in light-hearted scenes! It's a win/win.

Claudia: Maybe. This is kind of a public place. I don't really wanna talk about it right here, but, you know, listen. I've been wanting to ride the ferris wheel for the longest time. It's pretty private up there. You know, nothing more private than dangling 50 feet in the air. What do you say?

Like, is she going to attack her on the ferris wheel? This will be even more hilarious than all of her other plans, since her certain failure will now take place in midair!

And on top of all of that positivity, Max and Diane made me laugh out loud. Literally. Well, maybe it wasn't a full-on peal of laughter, but I did chuckle!

Max: You know what? I feel like a sexual, uh--a sexual abject or a--Diane: Object.Max: You know what I--Diane: Max, the word is "object."Max: Thank you. That's what i meant, a sexual object. See? You said it.

What is happening to me?! I don't think I'm high...Oh, well, I'm sure things will go back to normal on Tuesday. And by "normal", I mean "making me want to stab things", which is GH's natural state.

Comments

My only complaint today goes to wardrobe. Why the he'll did Patrick need such a large towel thrown around his neck to dry his hair? Really a small face towel, a hand towel, no towel-- there were other options they could gone with... It's criminal to cover up so much nice scenery...

Patrick in a towel & flirting with his adorable wife is always a good thing. It was nice to see them just being happy for a moment or two.

Molly rules the universe. As a Rexis fan, this makes me super happy. I totally want Molly to be like a big sister for Emma. Can you imagine the cuteness/smartness/hilariousness that would ensue from Momma? ;)

Too bad Ethan didn't drown in that dunk tank. Now that would have been a death worth seeing at this carnival.

I feel like we were watching Maurice Bernard more than Sonny today. He should play himself more often.

I never watched ATWT when the other MB was on it so seriously I want to know if she sucked as hard. I hope to the high heavens she is gone soon.

I think Spinelli looks better as a clown, literally. The hair alone was a vast improvement.

And Patrick in a wet t-shirt? Niiiice. I could make a whole show out of that!

What about the juvenile Prince vs. Carnie baseball fight? Did I imagine that crazy? WTF?

And Edward, oh Eddie. Why are you suddenly mixed up in a plot point that has you acting like a goofy old dufus? Knocking over drinks, talking w/ Andrea like she is worth a minute of your time, being babysat by Monica, and banging at a hotel in the name of Jimmy Lee Holt? It's all so beneath you Edward! You're a titan of industry, act like it.... But I do love seeing you Eddie!

Anthony Z twirled his fake moustache while ordering a mass slaughter. Claudia did too! She is twirling her evil stache w/out irony cuz she is gonna try to throw Kristina from the ferris wheel.

I think Spinelli looks better as a clown, literally. The hair alone was a vast improvement.

And Patrick in a wet t-shirt? Niiiice. I could make a whole show out of that!

What about the juvenile Prince vs. Carnie baseball fight? Did I imagine that crazy? WTF?

And Edward, oh Eddie. Why are you suddenly mixed up in a plot point that has you acting like a goofy old dufus? Knocking over drinks, talking w/ Andrea like she is worth a minute of your time, being babysat by Monica, and banging at a hotel in the name of Jimmy Lee Holt? It's all so beneath you Edward! You're a titan of industry, act like it.... But I do love seeing you Eddie!

Anthony Z twirled his fake moustache while ordering a mass slaughter. Claudia did too! She is twirling her evil stache w/out irony cuz she is gonna try to throw Kristina from the ferris wheel.

Whoever is casting for the younger actors on this show is doing a superb job. Most of the kids look like real children and they can act! The actress that plays Molly is especially adorable. Not just in the dunk tank scene, but when Alexis comes across the group at the carnival, Molly seems truly happy to see her, like she was her real mother. "Of course", you might say, but some TV kids, for instance Emma on AMC are stiff as boards. Cute as buttons but no actors. These GH kids are terrific.

PLEASE WRITERS OF GH SHOW MORE HAPPY SEXY ROBIN&PATRICK NO ANGST WHY CAN'T HD GUZA WRITE A LOVING COUPLE DOING EVERY DAY THINGS PLAYING WITH BABY EMMA AND SO ON AND PLEASE SHOW THEM IN THE SHOWER AGAIN LAST TIME WAS NS1 2007 FANS WANT&NEED MORE SCRUBS AND ALL NEED RATINGS SHOW MORE SCRUBS LESS MOB

I must give GH credit for beginning to have more scenes with cast members being together and sincerely enjoying each others company. We are so sick of all the scenes with everybody being together and scared for theirs lives and waiting for Jason to save them. I know the violence is coming next week but at least I can rewatch todays episode.

The actress that plays Molly is adorable and just plain fun to watch. Every kid on this show doesn't have to be a brat. Writers please don't change her.

I loved Robin & Patrick and was hoping for a scene with Emma but considering whats coming, they will have to be in full doctor mode once the violence starts. I continue to love the flirting and can't keep their hands off each other.

They really need to show more scenes of Sonny interacting with his children instead of the usual assigning them a body guard role.

My only complaint, the Nik and Ethan scene with them acting like five year olds was ridiculous.

I really enjoyed Friday's episode shockingly! I have a couple of thoughts though:

1. I thought SB wasn't playing Claudia as villain-like as she could have. For some reason I felt like she was trying to play it straight even though it was written like she wanted to kill Kristina. I get the feeling that SB is sick of playing a character that wants to hurt kids all the time.

2. They need to dress Sonny out of a suit more often. Yum.

3. I hate the fact that Kristina is in an abusive relationship with Kiefer, but it makes perfect sense considering her mom's horrific partner choices. That was a real-life consequence of parents modeling bad behavior for their children. I just hope that when it comes out, someone gives kiefer what he deserves.

4. I never thought of myself as a Jasam fan, but man are they sweet together!! I'm looking forward to where this goes.

5. More dunk tanks! What a freaking brilliant way to get as many hot male characters in wet shirts. Yum!

Now, I'm sure the Monday epi is going to be violent and awful, but Friday was such a nice, albeit brief, reprieve from the violence!

In Martha Byrne's defense, the writing for Andrea is terrible. She has nothing to do beyond running around town with a bottomless bottle of heart medication. GH writes its villains so poorly and broadly that all any of the actors can do is find different ways to twirl their mustaches.

Karen Harris has gift for distracting viewers in a good way from the ridiculous plot points, storylines and annoying characters so that you find yourself half way enjoying GH. It can't be an easy task so kudos to KH!

Good things about Friday episode! DUNK TANK! Molly Lansing (Her dad would be so proud!) Patrick! Patrick wet! Patrick in a towel! Sonny being tolerable. A Mac and Alexis scene. Scrubs being all cute in the locker room. Robin rocking awesome hair. A Matt Hunter appearance. I even have to give two thumbs up for Ethan in that dunk tank! Plus, I didn't have any urges to string Claudia up by her hair! I'm not saying there were no negatives. Spinelli. The impending violence. Rebecca. Lucky missing from the dunk tank. No hot and steamy Scrubs love scene. Kristina. Overall, I thought it was a stellar day for GH.

I thought Sonny had the best interaction w/Molly, his niece, than with any of his actual kids. If that were actually on purpose, maybe Sonny would mention that he's trying to fill a void left by Ric leaving. But as they basically pretend he never existed, I'll chalk it up to Molly adorableness. At least no one was shot, so it was a good episode.

I also thought it was surprisingly good, but I didn't enjoy the Jason/Sam scenes. I laughed out loud when he told she was "good at" being a PI. Really? She deduced that a woman who got a negligee and a hotel room and ordered two glasses of champagne is planning to SLEEP with someone? Boy, she is sharp!

Sonny needs to wear suits less and have less screentime, and then only with kids.

Molly rocks! Positive proof of Ric and Alexis awesomeness as a couple (which yes, I admit, only lasted for maybe 2 whole episodes before he was vilified). I miss Ric too. But that soras'd Molly adds a great dynamic to the Alexis and Sonny interactions. I was wondering how she would address him. I thought for a moment it would be just as Kristina's dad and no connection. But she clearly called him Uncle Sonny. So I agree, yes they (TPTB) are trying to act as if Ric never existed but this great writer threw that snippet in there and I appreciate it.

I also agree about Jason/Sam. They are much more adorable this time around but... every time I find myself enjoying this reunion, I'm reminded that Sam allowed his baby to be kidnapped and Jason threatened to KILL her...several times. And the romance therein fizzles for me.

Is anyone going to mention the new horrific videography?!?!?!?! I hate it. Hate hate hate. Now it's like watching All My Children. I miss GH's old, soapy "look." (hopefully y'all know what I mean and I'm not totally insane)

Yay for cuteness! But I'm going to have to disagree with people loving "Uncle Sonny's" interactions with Molly. Although it's not being mentioned, I feel like this is just more of the "Sonny is an amazing father" b.s. to which we've been subjected to years and this time the unspoken implication is "and a much better father than Ric." I'm biased -- I loved Ric. But I recognize that he was not a good guy. Still, I felt so much of Ric's vilification post-panic room (which, obviously, was truly villanous but in a soapy way that I appreciated) was Sonny-propping and now this happy-interaction with Molly? Seems like an attempt to forget Ric and love Sonny. Again.

I agree with you, Emmy. I *do* think the interaction between Sonny and the munchkins is kind of cute, but I think it's in service to something utterly, utterly un-cute. Which is the notion that the Godfather has any beeswax being a father/uncle or being considered a good one.